Teaching requires an understanding of the world in which we live, and an ability to communicate our understanding to others. In teaching, we must remember that our past shapes our future. My past has contributed immensely to my desire to teach, and it shapes how I will teach. I was raised to set goals for myself and to do my best to succeed. As a teacher, I will continue to set goals for myself, do my best to reach them, help my students set their own goals, and aid them in reaching theirs. To provide an understanding of science and its connection to their lives, I will draw from my past experiences and find relevant connections to my students’ prior knowledge. My teaching philosophy includes ideas such as all students can succeed, all students can find some relevance to chemistry in their lives, and all students can have fun learning science. I hope to portray myself as an authoritative teacher who gives and receives respect from the students. I also hope to follow in the footsteps of those teachers that had a positive impact on me because of their enthusiasm and passion for their subject matters. They were able to communicate that to their students, which boosted class enjoyment for the subject. I would like to be able to share with my students the passion that I have for science and its important in my life.
One of my goals is for my students to succeed, whether it is in my classroom or out in the world. Success will be defined differently for each student because they come from different backgrounds and have different levels of knowledge. I want to work with my students to set personal goals which give them the opportunity to be challenged, to learn, and to grow. If a goal is to improve math skills, then I will make sure to practice and strengthen my students' abilities in mathematical concepts during chemistry lessons that involve such concepts. At the beginning of the year, I will have the students write down one or more goals they wish to reach by mid-year and the end of the year. At each successive time during the school year, I will take the time to check in with my students and ask them how successful they have been in achieving their goals. We can also discuss how they will continue to reach for success and what they should do differently. Developing professional relationships with my students will be a way to help them achieve success. I would like to create a personal connection with each student by knowing some relatable aspect of their life because I believe this will facilitate my goal in having them do their best. Knowing my students also goes back to helping them understand the world by connecting science to their past and present experiences.
Another goal is to teach students that learning science is fun and applicable to their lives. What I remember most from high school are the experiments we conducted in my science classroom and what I learned from those experiences. Hands-on activities are very useful in science courses because they are a source of motivation for students and they also build connections to the material. There are great resources that have been developed to bring real-life application to science experiments, and I hope to use those in my science classroom. Though they are important for disseminating information, note-taking and PowerPoint presentations do not intrigue high school students and therefore offer little motivation for the students to actively participate in the learning process. I do not eschew these forms of teaching completely, but I will make it a point to offer instruction through which my students are involved and have the chance to actively participate in learning. Conducting an experiment allows the students to explore and engage in self-understanding of the world. If we are learning about chemical reactions, the experiment will have them explore the nature of fireworks, which links their experiences to the actual chemistry of the concept. This will result in meaningful, long-lasting connections that hopefully evolve into an appreciation for science. As a teacher, I hope to incorporate activities and labs that build their intrigue for science and also provide connections to the subject matter.
Science can be applicable to our lives if we take the time to find the connection to our prior knowledge. When teaching, I can’t rely on students to have had the same experiences as me, so I must work with their background knowledge. Also, I cannot rely on each of my students to have had the same experiences as one another. This requires teachers to get to know their students well, inside and outside of the school environment. Opening a new topic with a KWL (know, want to know, learn) chart, I can assess their prior knowledge and better know where to start teaching. By having an idea of what interests my students have and what knowledge they possess, I can apply these interests and prior knowledge to the concepts in science. I will try to incorporate one analogy or similarity of science to the real world in every lesson. This gives students a chance to see how science really connects to our lives, even though it seems like such an abstract way of thinking. We just have to learn to use the things we already know and look at these ideas in a new way. One example I used in my chemical reactions unit made a link between double replacement reactions and the television show Wife Swap. The students couldn't understand how the atoms in the reaction were rearranging. So, I brought up the show wife swap and had a student explain it to me. Another student made the link between the show and the reaction I was teaching. It was helpful to the students that can't really grasp Chemistry well, and they learned to just build on a simple concept they were familiar with. After that analogy worked, I decided to have the students create an analogy with another type of chemical reaction. It went well because they had already made a connection with a previous reaction. It is always good to make a link to the students because the already have some prior knowledge that just needs to be activated and applied.
In order to build a positive learning environment, I need to know my students well and establish myself as an authoritative teacher. An authoritative teacher is one who places limits on the students but simultaneously offers them independence. Throughout the year I will create activities that will provide me with information about my students. They may fill out a questionnaire or work in small groups so that I can provide more individualized help. Once the students and teacher have developed a strong relationship, it will be a better environment for success. My goal is for students to know that I am approachable and available to them. It is difficult for some students to focus and learn well in the classroom so I will be accessible to them after school. I do not want students to think that I am just there during the school day, and when it ends, my job ends. I will provide an e-mail address that the students can contact me through. This will keep the lines of communication open, and hopefully the students use it to their advantage. Although I want to know my students well, I don't want them to think that we are "friends" and that I will pass them if they don't work for it. This is in keeping with an authoritative teaching style. As a teacher, I need to have a close relationship, but maintain high expectations and rules. Being laid back and letting students get away with misbehaviors will not help build a good learning environment. Students will take advantage of all the things they can get away with and start abusing the system. So, in September I need to be strict and uphold the rules and guidelines I want the students to follow. It would be difficult to "tighten the reigns" after starting with an easy-going stance on classroom rules and behavior. The students will know from the start that I do not tolerate misbehavior but that I do expect high quality work and respect from them.
Below is a picture of my Teaching Vision Wall. This shows the ideas and goals that I have for my classroom when I begin teaching. The bottom row expresses the skills I believe my students need to acquire and refine within my classroom. The next row incorporates the idea that I as a teacher need to relate the subject matter to my students' lives so that they can one day be able to apply the knowledge they learned from me to the real world. The following row (middle) includes the behavioral expectations I have of my students within my classroom. Lastly, the top two rows are the things that I want to accomplish as a science teacher. I placed these on top because I need to know what I expect from myself before I tell students what I expect from them.
One of my goals is for my students to succeed, whether it is in my classroom or out in the world. Success will be defined differently for each student because they come from different backgrounds and have different levels of knowledge. I want to work with my students to set personal goals which give them the opportunity to be challenged, to learn, and to grow. If a goal is to improve math skills, then I will make sure to practice and strengthen my students' abilities in mathematical concepts during chemistry lessons that involve such concepts. At the beginning of the year, I will have the students write down one or more goals they wish to reach by mid-year and the end of the year. At each successive time during the school year, I will take the time to check in with my students and ask them how successful they have been in achieving their goals. We can also discuss how they will continue to reach for success and what they should do differently. Developing professional relationships with my students will be a way to help them achieve success. I would like to create a personal connection with each student by knowing some relatable aspect of their life because I believe this will facilitate my goal in having them do their best. Knowing my students also goes back to helping them understand the world by connecting science to their past and present experiences.
Another goal is to teach students that learning science is fun and applicable to their lives. What I remember most from high school are the experiments we conducted in my science classroom and what I learned from those experiences. Hands-on activities are very useful in science courses because they are a source of motivation for students and they also build connections to the material. There are great resources that have been developed to bring real-life application to science experiments, and I hope to use those in my science classroom. Though they are important for disseminating information, note-taking and PowerPoint presentations do not intrigue high school students and therefore offer little motivation for the students to actively participate in the learning process. I do not eschew these forms of teaching completely, but I will make it a point to offer instruction through which my students are involved and have the chance to actively participate in learning. Conducting an experiment allows the students to explore and engage in self-understanding of the world. If we are learning about chemical reactions, the experiment will have them explore the nature of fireworks, which links their experiences to the actual chemistry of the concept. This will result in meaningful, long-lasting connections that hopefully evolve into an appreciation for science. As a teacher, I hope to incorporate activities and labs that build their intrigue for science and also provide connections to the subject matter.
Science can be applicable to our lives if we take the time to find the connection to our prior knowledge. When teaching, I can’t rely on students to have had the same experiences as me, so I must work with their background knowledge. Also, I cannot rely on each of my students to have had the same experiences as one another. This requires teachers to get to know their students well, inside and outside of the school environment. Opening a new topic with a KWL (know, want to know, learn) chart, I can assess their prior knowledge and better know where to start teaching. By having an idea of what interests my students have and what knowledge they possess, I can apply these interests and prior knowledge to the concepts in science. I will try to incorporate one analogy or similarity of science to the real world in every lesson. This gives students a chance to see how science really connects to our lives, even though it seems like such an abstract way of thinking. We just have to learn to use the things we already know and look at these ideas in a new way. One example I used in my chemical reactions unit made a link between double replacement reactions and the television show Wife Swap. The students couldn't understand how the atoms in the reaction were rearranging. So, I brought up the show wife swap and had a student explain it to me. Another student made the link between the show and the reaction I was teaching. It was helpful to the students that can't really grasp Chemistry well, and they learned to just build on a simple concept they were familiar with. After that analogy worked, I decided to have the students create an analogy with another type of chemical reaction. It went well because they had already made a connection with a previous reaction. It is always good to make a link to the students because the already have some prior knowledge that just needs to be activated and applied.
In order to build a positive learning environment, I need to know my students well and establish myself as an authoritative teacher. An authoritative teacher is one who places limits on the students but simultaneously offers them independence. Throughout the year I will create activities that will provide me with information about my students. They may fill out a questionnaire or work in small groups so that I can provide more individualized help. Once the students and teacher have developed a strong relationship, it will be a better environment for success. My goal is for students to know that I am approachable and available to them. It is difficult for some students to focus and learn well in the classroom so I will be accessible to them after school. I do not want students to think that I am just there during the school day, and when it ends, my job ends. I will provide an e-mail address that the students can contact me through. This will keep the lines of communication open, and hopefully the students use it to their advantage. Although I want to know my students well, I don't want them to think that we are "friends" and that I will pass them if they don't work for it. This is in keeping with an authoritative teaching style. As a teacher, I need to have a close relationship, but maintain high expectations and rules. Being laid back and letting students get away with misbehaviors will not help build a good learning environment. Students will take advantage of all the things they can get away with and start abusing the system. So, in September I need to be strict and uphold the rules and guidelines I want the students to follow. It would be difficult to "tighten the reigns" after starting with an easy-going stance on classroom rules and behavior. The students will know from the start that I do not tolerate misbehavior but that I do expect high quality work and respect from them.
Below is a picture of my Teaching Vision Wall. This shows the ideas and goals that I have for my classroom when I begin teaching. The bottom row expresses the skills I believe my students need to acquire and refine within my classroom. The next row incorporates the idea that I as a teacher need to relate the subject matter to my students' lives so that they can one day be able to apply the knowledge they learned from me to the real world. The following row (middle) includes the behavioral expectations I have of my students within my classroom. Lastly, the top two rows are the things that I want to accomplish as a science teacher. I placed these on top because I need to know what I expect from myself before I tell students what I expect from them.